Holocaust Museum welcomes new exhibit of art by Awty students

By: ERIC ERVIN

Published
7:00 pm CDT, Wednesday, August 11, 2004

In response to Holocaust Museum Houstons Butterfly Project, students of The Awty International School of Houston have created unique butterfly art, which is now on display in the Boniuk Library of the Holocaust Museum Houston through Oct. 28.

Seventeen 11th-graders created the works of art with butterfly imagery and Holocaust related themes in a variety of media.

From painting to photography, collage to life-size sculpture, the students have crafted artistically and historically meaningful pieces, which serve as a remembrance of the Holocaust and its horrors, school officials say.

The museums Butterfly Project was established to collect 1.5 million butterfly-related pieces of art from around the globe in memory of the 1.5 million children whose lives were lost during the Holocaust.

Both the school and the museum projects were inspired by the Friedl Dicker-Brandeis compilation of artwork and poetry by children of the Terezin concentration camp. The compilation is entitled I Never Saw Another Butterfly.

I truly was not prepared for the effect that this simple project would have on my 11th-grade International Baccalaureate art students, says Rebecca Johnson of the Awty School. The results were stunning.

To date, the museum has collected more than 50,000 pieces of butterfly art from students and others throughout the United States and countries around the world.

The works span the spectrum from crayon drawings and Popsicle stick creations to those created in complex art media.

One-point-five million pieces is certainly a lofty goal, but we continue to be pleased and overwhelmed by the number and variety of butterflies we receive, says Richard Grisham, the museums associate director of education. We hope teachers and parents will continue to learn about the project and work with their kids to create and send us more.

The Holocaust Museum Houston continues to collect butterflies and encourages art projects in conjunction with Holocaust or tolerance education to children.

Butterflies can be sent to the museum at 5401 Caroline St., Houston, Texas 77004.

Other exhibits currently on display at The Holocaust Museum Houston include: There is No Why Here a collection of Gumoil photography by Karl P. Koenig; Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945 photographs and documents examining the history and impact of the Nazis attempt to rid Germany of homosexuality and Bearing Witness the museums permanent exhibit of Holocaust history featuring artifacts, photographs, documents and personal stories.

For more information, contact the museums education department at 713-942-8000.